New Syndicate to Focus Soley on Iran

May 28, 2009, New York, NY-- To expand its coverage of politics, foreign affairs, culture and society in Iran and the Iranian Diaspora, TehranBureau.com celebrates its official launch this month. A "virtual bureau" with contributors in Iran, the United States and Europe, Tehran Bureau is connecting journalists, Iran experts and readers all over the world. The stories are shaped by Iranians in Iran and the Middle East, foreigners viewing or interacting with Iranian culture for the first time, and hyphenated Iranians best suited to bridge the cultures.

Gareth Smyth, Robert Dreyfuss, Muhammad Sahimi, and Kamin Mohammadi are among the journalists contributing exclusive content to Tehran Bureau. Tehran Bureau is committed to following trends in digital media, using the latest social networking tools to tap into the best of the Iranian blogosphere.

In conjunction with the launch, Agence Global, the exclusive syndication agency for The Nation and Le Monde diplomatique announced it will syndicate content from Tehran Bureau to its affiliates.

"This is a critical time in relations between the United States and much of the world. At a time when news organizations should be augmenting their foreign news coverage, they are forced to scale back," said Golnoush Niknejad, founder of Tehran Bureau, who has previously reported for PBS Frontline, the Los Angeles Times and Time magazine. "At this critical juncture, U.S.-Iran relations are particularly important, especially since what does or does not happen will have major international implications. Tehran Bureau was created to fill the news vacuum and to help highlight some of the issues that get lost in the sound bites."

Tehran Bureau is not affiliated with or funded by any government, religious or interest group, and is therefore quickly becoming the premier source of news on Iran in the English language. Stories have been picked up and quoted by the mainstream media, including ABC News and the BBC World Service.